Loquat

Eriobotrya japonica

Japanese Medlar, Japanese plum, Chinese plum(Eng.), Lukwart (Afr)

1/5

This little evergreen tree has beautiful foliage, fragrant flowers, delicious fruit and it is easy to grow. The loquat grows to about 6.1 m high assuming a rounded form with upward pointing branches. Large, deeply textured dark green leaves are about 7.6 cm long with the bottom surface being light green and slightly fuzzy. New foliage on some specimens is an attractive rusty red. The sweetly scented white flowers are followed by small, edible yellow fruits in spring.

Planning

Difficulty

Easy

Fruiting time

Autumn, Spring

Harvesting

Loquat fruits should be allowed to ripen fully before harvesting. They reach maturity in about 90 days from full flower opening. A ripe fruit will have a distinctive yellowy-orange colour and begin to soften. Unripe fruits do not ripen properly off the tree and are excessively acid. The fruit must be carefully clipped individually as they are difficult to separate from the cluster stems without tearing. Ripe fruit may be refridgerated for 1 to 2 weeks.